Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 101

Chapter 101

The first detail that seized my attention was the chilling vow of retribution.
But for Sister Seol and Hwa-eun, a different discovery dominated their focus.
Martial arts diagrams and written teachings were carved directly into the stone.
“This…!”
“It’s the complete manual for the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art (O-dok-gwi-won-shin-gong), So-ryong!”
“What is it doing here…?”
“Isn’t this the discipline you’ve been training in?”
Hwa-eun was correct. The engravings were undoubtedly the very martial art I practiced—every training step and guiding philosophy was laid out.
My initial thrill at the possibility of refining my skills was immediate.
However, as my eyes moved further down the text—
I encountered something monstrous.
“Upon achieving the Eleventh Stage of Five Poisons Mastery, the practitioner must decapitate the five bonded venomous creatures, consume their blood, and simmer their carcasses with ginseng, angelica root, and poria mushroom for three days and nights before ingesting the resulting elixir. Only through this may one truly master the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art.”
‘These people were utterly deranged.’
Since this art was a derivative of Beast Heart Arts, it inherently required a deep, symbiotic connection between the master and their poisonous beasts.
Yet here, at the pinnacle of achievement, the final step was to slaughter those very companions, drink their blood, and stew them into a tonic?
It was no mystery why this cult was eradicated.
“Hwa-eun, give me your lantern.”
“My lantern? What for?”
I took it from her, extracted the oil-soaked wick, and immediately set the abhorrent passage ablaze.
I watched until every last word was scorched into illegible black ash.
The flames danced, devouring the perverse instructions until only a darkened smear on the rock remained.
Yes, I had consumed snakes and scorpions to survive my time in Hainan.
But those were wild animals, not companions I had raised and bonded with.
These people nurtured venomous beings only to sacrifice them in a mad ritual, as if practicing some black magic.
‘They expect me to kill my own daughters, drink their blood, and eat their boiled remains like some demonic rite? Never.’
I felt not a single shred of regret for destroying it.
The instant I stepped away, both Hwa-eun and Sister Seol placed reassuring hands on my shoulder.
“You did the right thing, So-ryong.”
“That’s my little brother.”
It was only then that they finally took note of the blood-red warning I had seen first.
Hwa-eun’s eyes narrowed.
“This proves it—there were unquestionably survivors from the Five Poison Clan.”
“I had the same thought. Hwa-eun, this message… it’s written in blood, correct?”
It was undeniable evidence.
Whoever had been sealed on the far side of this passage had sworn a bloody oath against those who left them for dead.
“We must proceed with extreme caution from this point forward.”
“Yes. Also… judging by this, it appears the exit can only be operated from the other side.”
“That would track…”
After a meticulous inspection of the mechanism, Hwa-eun let out a frustrated sigh.
“I had hoped to decipher its design, but it’s futile from this side. The actual controls must be concealed over there.”
She looked genuinely disheartened.
Her curiosity for how the hidden door functioned would clearly go unsatisfied; the Five Poison Clan had expertly hidden its secrets.
“Then our only option is to continue forward,” Sister Seol stated. “This path seems deserted, but we must remain vigilant.”
“Agreed. Let’s move.”
And so we continued.
Our progress was short-lived, however, as we soon came to an abrupt halt.
Before us—
A sheer drop, ten meters deep, cut across our path.
Now the purpose of inscribing the manual on the wall was clear.
This chamber was a sealed prison—
Impossible to ascend from the other end, making it the perfect trap for any intruder.
Using Yo-hwa and Cho, we cautiously lowered ourselves into the pit.
But the moment our feet touched the ground, Hwa-eun’s hand shot out and gripped my arm.
“So-ryong, there’s something unnatural about this cave.”
“You’re right… this passageway is odd.”
I looked around more carefully.
Upon reaching the bottom, I understood what she meant.
The natural, irregular rock had disappeared.
The tunnel ahead was a perfect circle—
Roughly three meters across, its surface unnaturally smooth.
It seemed too precise to be a natural formation.
Yet it didn’t appear to have been carved by tools, either.
“This is bizarre…”
Both Hwa-eun and Sister Seol ran their palms over the walls.
The surface was not rough stone or earth, but something hardened and sleek.
It didn’t feel excavated—
It felt melted.
“It’s as if… the stone was once liquid.”
Their voices were tinged with unease as they studied the walls.
A peculiar, wavelike texture rippled across the surface—
A testament to the rock having flowed before solidifying for good.
And it sparked a feeling of familiarity.
‘Where have I seen this before…?’
I knelt and pressed my hand to the floor.
It felt solid, yet yielded slightly under my fingers.
Drawing a throwing knife, I scraped at the ground—
The stone was soft enough to leave a mark.
And then I remembered—
A memory from my past life.
A place I had once visited.
‘Wait. This is exactly like—’
The Cu Chi Tunnels.
The vast underground network used by Viet Cong guerrillas.
I had toured them once, and the earth there possessed this exact same quality.
‘The guide mentioned the region had a special clay, rich in limestone—soft to dig through, but hardening like stone when exposed to air…’
That was why the Cu Chi Tunnels never needed wooden supports—
And this place felt identical.
Which aligned perfectly, given our location…
“We’re close to the border between Yunnan and Vietnam.”
Hwa-eun’s eyes widened in understanding.
“Wait… you’re saying humans dug this?”
Sister Seol looked doubtful.
“But… how could they possibly dig so deep?”
I gave a faint smirk.
“Remember, martial artists are essentially superhuman laborers. With their strength, they wouldn’t need an army. A few dozen highly skilled experts could have accomplished this.”
If the Viet Cong could dig 250 kilometers of tunnels with sheer numbers—
Then a group of dedicated martial artists could easily manage a project like this.
Hwa-eun folded her arms.
“If this is indeed man-made, that implies… it could extend much farther than we anticipate.”
Sister Seol let out a dismissive sound.
“Really. How long could it possibly be?”
I simply smiled.
“Let’s go see.”
Hours later—
The three of us trudged through the unending passage, utterly drained.
Our early curiosity had evaporated long ago.
[Seol, I believe our ancestors were mad.]
[I concur. This is insanity.]
At this rate—
We were genuinely going to walk 200 kilometers.
***
Ping!
The silk thread connected to Yo-hwa went taut with a sharp sound.
An instant later, Hwa-eun’s surprised voice echoed from behind.
[“Ugh. Sister, why did you stop?”]
She must have walked right into Sister Seol, who was leading our single-file march.
Sister Seol—who had been quiet for hours, worn down by the tunnel’s monotony—finally replied in a hushed whisper.
The cave carried even the softest sound, so she kept her voice barely audible.
[“So-ryong, how long have we been down here?”]
Hwa-eun, from the back, answered first.
[“At least two full days, Sister.”]
[“Ugh… the endless dark, the same unchanging path. It’s starting to unravel my mind.”]
She wasn’t exaggerating.
The oppressive darkness, the featureless surroundings, the claustrophobic pressure—it was all warping our sense of time.
Despite counting our meals and brief rests, everything blurred into one long, suffocating nightmare.
The profound fatigue in Sister Seol’s voice was a clear signal—
We needed to stop and rest before our nerves shattered from the strain.
[“We should take a break. Maybe even get some sleep.”]
[“Yes, I think that’s necessary.”]
[“I agree, So-ryong.”]
A collective sigh of relief passed between us.
I turned and murmured to Cho.
[“Cho, we’re stopping here.”]
Tsrrrt!
It wasn’t just the darkness slowing our pace.
We had extinguished all lanterns, relying solely on Cho to navigate the absolute blackness.
We couldn’t afford to waste our internal energy on flashy movement techniques, not knowing how much farther this tunnel went—
Or what might be waiting for us at its end.
So we inched forward, blind and painstakingly cautious.
That was the true reason this journey felt interminable.
This tunnel wasn’t merely an escape route—
It was a deathtrap, meticulously engineered by the lunatics of the Five Poison Clan.
Fwoosh.
The crackle of a lantern being lit broke the heavy silence.
The dim glow that followed, though faint, felt like needles in our light-starved eyes.
[“Ugh, my eyes…”]
[“Yes… it’s been too long in the dark.”]
We slid down to sit with our backs against the tunnel wall, pulling out our remaining provisions.
Dried meat and hardened rice cakes—that was all that was left.
It was meager, but it was sustenance.
As we ate, our talk inevitably returned to the cursed tunnel.
[“How much farther do you think this damned hole goes?”] Sister Seol grumbled.
[“I have no idea, but I pray it ends soon,”] Hwa-eun sighed.
[“I wouldn’t complain if an exit appeared right now.”]
I chewed on my rock-hard rice cake in silence.
Then—
[“Ugh! More than that—what I truly want is real food! This is so dry! I need grilled meat!”]
Sister Seol complained, struggling to gnaw through her tough meal.
As a disciple of the Beast Palace, she was accustomed to fresh game, making this diet a particular torture for her.
Truthfully, I felt the same.
I was thoroughly sick of these dried rations.
But then—
Hwa-eun went perfectly still.
She sniffed the air once, then again, then stared ahead with a puzzled expression.
[“Wait… do you smell that?”]
Sister Seol immediately perked up.
[“Smell what?”]
[“It smells like… something wonderful. Almost like… rabbit roasting on a spit?”]
At that, Sister Seol flared her nostrils and took a deep breath.
Her eyes went wide.
[“You’re right! That is definitely roasting rabbit!”]
Now I caught the scent too.
A faint, savory aroma was drifting down the tunnel toward us.
We exchanged a single, unanimous glance—then we were moving without another word.
The smell of cooking meat meant people.
People meant a way out.
And a way out meant—
Freedom from this accursed place.
We hurried forward, the delicious smell growing stronger with every step.
Then—
A soft glow became visible ahead.
[“Lights up ahead. Douse the lantern.”]*
We quickly smothered our light and advanced in complete silence.
When we finally reached the source of the glow—
We found ourselves at the edge of a three-meter-wide opening in the cave floor.
Looking down, we saw—
A crackling campfire.
And seated around it—
A group of people.
They were circled around the flames, roasting six rabbits on spits, their faces illuminated by the flickering firelight.
My first assumption was that they were strangers.
But then—
Hwa-eun’s eyes widened in disbelief.
[“W-wait. Those people… How…?”]
Her voice trembled as she stared downward.
Frowning, I looked again.
And the moment I recognized their faces—
I understood her shock completely.
We knew them.
‘What in the world are they doing here?!’